Sibelius Chamber Music

Bohuslav Martinů produced a huge catalogue of chamber music for a variety of instruments. The cello seems to have occupied a special place in his heart, however, and the three cello sonatas were probably of great significance to him; each of them has an entirely distinct character and appears to owe something to extra-musical events. The most dramatic of the three, the First Sonata was written in Paris in May 1939, shortly after Martinů’s Czech homeland had fallen to the Nazis. Having fled Paris in 1940, Martinů composed Sonata No.2 shortly after reaching safety in the USA, and the work celebrates the rhythms and the verve of the new world. Although written in memory of a deceased friend, the Third Sonata is still more celebratory: even the slow movement is pastoral rather than tragic, while the finale – or at least its ending – ‘would hardly be out of place at a rodeo’, as Steven Isserlis writes in his own liner notes to this disc.

Created from the legendary Deutsche Grammophon Catalogue, The History of Classical Music in 24 Hours is a collection that can spark a life-long interest in classical music. Thematically arranged on 24 discs, The History weaves its way from Medieval Music to Minimalism, with many stops along the way: The Renaissance, Baroque (vocal and instrumental), the great Concertos, the Rise of the Virtuoso, a three disc focus on opera and more.

The Helsinki Chamber Choir (Helsingin kamarikuoro) was founded in 1962 as the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir and assumed its current name in 2005. It is currently Finland’s only professional chamber choir. The choir’s Artistic Director from 2005–2007 was Kimmo Hakola. Since 2007 Nils Schweckendiek has been responsible for the group's artistic planning.

Created from the legendary Deutsche Grammophon Catalogue, The History of Classical Music in 24 Hours is a collection that can spark a life-long interest in classical music. Thematically arranged on 24 discs, The History weaves its way from Medieval Music to Minimalism, with many stops along the way: The Renaissance, Baroque (vocal and instrumental), the great Concertos, the Rise of the Virtuoso, a three disc focus on opera and more.

Riemuitkaamme! is an imaginative and unconventional selection of choral music associated with Christmas as it is celebrated in Finland. Several of the pieces are by Finnish composers - Sibelius, Rautavaara and Madetoja, to name a few - while others have become part of the Christmas traditions of the country despite their international background. Among these Berlioz The Shepherds Farewell and Tchaikovskys Christ, when a Child are quite late additions compared to the medieval hymns Puernatusin Bethlehem, Ecce novum gaudium and Angelus emittitur. All three of these were included in the collection Piae cantiones from 1582, the oldest Finnish music publication. Here, they are performed in settings by various composers from different countries and eras forming a kind of soundtrack of Christmases past and present, distant and close. Contemporary music forms an important part of the activities of the Helsinki Chamber Choir and Nils Schweckendiek, and true to form, the team includes a world premiere recording in their celebrations: Aattoilta, by the Canadian-born composer Matthew Whittall.

Like Paavo Berglund’s Sibelius symphony recordings, also with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, these Brahms performances inject a certain novelty that will be appreciated especially by the listener who has wearied of them due to excessive repetition. While these are not radically desiccated renditions in the manner of Chailly or Harnoncourt, the COE’s smaller-scaled string body does require a bit of time at first for your ear to adjust to the thinner timbres. But the reward is a harvest of inner detail, much of it barely audible in full-size orchestral performances (but well captured by Ondine’s vivid recordings), which continually surprises and delights.